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Rellandia
Rellandia - The Beacon of Meridhan Quotes "Knowledge is power. Wisdom is purpose." - National Motto "Knowledge is like a key - without wisdom, the key will open no doors and both would be useless as ignorance itself" " - Arc The Wise "It is only during the darkest of days that one can be truly tested" - Great Grey Owl Background Rellandia is the southeastern kingdom of Meridhan. It is known to hold some of the mightiest towering peaks. It is the kingdom of Meridhan to be most affiliated with animal learning and holds some of the most exotic creatures across all of Meridhan - including their national treasure the three-eyed owl and mountain yeti. Rellandia is the main source for yeti and ram wool for the neighboring countries. This is primarily due to being situated in the less arid area of the desert stretch. Meridhan is famous for Arc The Wise that defeated the Cursed Dragon and is where the Great Library is situated holding the history of Meridhan and teachings of magic. There is also a Treasury of exotic and magical artifacts that have accumulated over time. History Before Rellandia was a kingdom there only existed Sallamar and Sandfall. Due to these towering, sun-baked mountains, it has shown in history that many travelers crossing between the neighboring kingdoms of Sandfall and Salamar, had faced great difficulty. It has been reported that the travelers had lost themselves and even gone missing - most likely due to absence of proper routes (because of the rocky terrain). Several hikers end up panicking and traverse deeper into the mountain wilderness. Those hikers that traveled during the day soon discover that they were far less safe due to hostile mountain yetis that hunt when the sun is up. Mountain yetis usually just hunt rams and various birds and go back to their caves to rest at night. It has been claimed that mountain yetis are the main reason for the disappearance of travelers. One man Rell was wise enough to make a settlement on the top of the mountains with a villagers from Sallamar to disrupt the pattern of missing travellers. These people were known as Rellandians. Many prefered working during the night to protect themselves from the yetis. Rellandians tracked the mountain yetis' whereabouts frequently to avoid conflict as much as possible and settled on the mountains where mountain yetis' are scarce. Some even hunt them down for their horn, meat and fur. Rellandians survive as they are seen as great trackers, navigators and fighters. A fort was built called The fort of Rell to further protect the people of Rellandia of any attacks. Travelers that are unarmed are advised to find safe havens built by Rellandians and to try to only move during start of sunset till the break of dawn. The Beacon Tower was a structure built on the summit of "Mount of Rell" by Rellandians to help guide travelers to Fort Rellandia. It is known to be a destination for lost travelers and the center of Rellandia. The southernmost shores of Sallamar could be seen from the top of the tower and it would light up every night and signal the end of twilight. Many Meridhan who live close to Rellandia tell stories as a joke to their children of "The lost/fallen star in the mountains" and is now sometimes considered (to some) as an astrological symbol. There is a bridge that connects the tower to the Owl University. Due to the exotic creatures, scholars from Meridhan migrated from their respected kingdoms to move to the settlement in Rellandia to learn more. Owl University was built to further develop learning and broaden their knowledge. The Great Library was soon made shortly after. At this point Rellandia was the pinnacle of druidic learning and an archive of the history of Meridhan including previous dragon battles that were fought. Including the water serpent dragon, lightning wyvern, the cursed black dragon that Arc The Wise defeated. Besides the Great Library it included classrooms, research rooms, sleeping quarters and a treasury with many ancient tapestries and other relics such as the remains of the cursed dragon. The rest of the City of Rell was built around the mountainside. That is why the mountain is also sometimes referred to as the city as well. Military The Owl University is held above the Fort of Rell and is now famed to hold many creatures from all of Meridhan. It is also where the cities military police resides to enforce peace in the capital. The owl knights known for their use of pole arms and knowledge of Druidic Arts. These soldiers mostly consisted of graduates from the Owl University that wanted to serve and protect their city. Rellandia are not considered for having a strong or large military force. Rellandians rely on their Fort and their location to protect themselves from attackers. Government The area of the mountain where the Fort of Rell, Beacon Tower, and Archane University is built upon is known as "The Perch" and is seen to hold the power of City. Parliament of the city also resides in the Fort of Rell. Those higher of stature have housing built further up the mountain and is considered the inner parts of the city as they have to reach "The Perch" and those further below are known as the outskirts of the city. These consisted of yeti hunters as well as ram farmers and traders of the city as they needed to get out of the mountain more quickly. Wildlife The wildlife in Rellandia, is home to many horned creatures such as mountain yetis and rams as previously stated. There are also mountain cats, foxes as well as small rodents however the most notable creature of Rellandia is the three-eyed owl. This avian creature evolved from the typical spotted mountain owl. They adapted by gaining a blue, photo-receptive eye on the middle of their forehead that helps them see during the day. This is primarily to protect their nests from predators. When the owls rest in it's nest, they have their third eye open to scare off any humans, foxes, cats and other owls to make it look like they are awake. They can still detect movement however and when they do spot a hostile creature, they spread their wings to look as large as they can. Their wings are patterned with spots that look like eyes to confuse and scare off their enemies. Combined with the noise of their beak clapping they can intimidate most predators away from their eggs and owlets but are not designed to win the fights. The other two eyes have a tapetum lucidum which, when you shine a light at them during the night, they seem to glow. They help them see at night but makes them see slightly blurry during the day vise versa with their third eye during the night. Since there are scarce amount of trees in Rellandia the owls are forced to make their nests on the side of mountains like Rellandians. Teachings People of Rellandia, see a resemblance with owls and made them a symbol for the kingdom. They use the owl's wise traits as an animal along with three others to aspire to have. The three animals were considered to be the strongest, bravest and most cunning animals of Rellandia - representing the eyes of the owl. These include: the mighty Ram, the cunning Fox, the fierce Mountain Lion and the wise Owl. These animals can be sometimes seen carved into the rock as well as seen on various banners around the mountain. The Ram represented as the animal of willpower, determination, strength and labor. The Fox represented virtues of loyalty, teamwork, strategy and quick-thinking. The Mountain Lion represented courage, ferocity, dignity and independence. The Owl represented knowledge wisdom, knowledge, guidance and understanding. The the animals were to have respectable traits, the owl was still considered the most popular due to the third-eyed-owl being unique to the kingdom of Rellandia and the similarities it shared with the people. It is also believed that it is the animal that held the highest valued traits. As the other three animals were considered as subordinates to the Owl teachings . Education Education in Rellandia is very seclusive and conditional. Only the smartest of students could attend Owl University due to the attraction of tourists and villagers that now want to settle in the newer kingdoms of Meridhan. The teachers composed of a mixture of the best: * Scholars: academic / research-oriented teachers * Explorers: who collect lost artifacts, knowledge, and maps * Gate keepers: magical protectors * Apprentices: group leaders of the dragon battles * Druids: those who deal with greater knowledge Students of The University are known as one: * Novices: untested, new recruits, learners Novice study subjects specialized by their teachers. These subjects include: The History of Magic, The Three Dead Meridhan Dragons; Creatures of Meridhan; Exotic Beasts from the Mainland; Potions and Elixers; Astronomy; Herbology; The Study of Ancient Runes and Artifacts. Novices can choose up to 8 subjects of these subjects as well as normal subjects that presented in normal schools such as natural Sciences, Mathematics and Languages. If one is certified to be hold powerful spiritual prowess, they can also choose a specialized personal classes by Great Grey Owl. There is also specialized subjects such as Alchemy only offered to the smartest among students. The University also have implemented a house system and are named for some of the greatest people of Rellandia during its conception. House of Levotári - Levotári was a man who served as watcher for the village settlers at night. One day he went to rescue a man who was paralyzed after falling of a small segment of the mountain. He quickly went down to the place where he fell only to find out he was unarmed face to face with a mountain lion. Levotári succeeded bringing back the lion and the man back to the settlement and was immediately made the chief police. The motto is “Ferox” which translates to Fierce. House of Vulepoú - Vulepoú to the people of Rellandia was clearly a warlock. She was one of the few warlocks that lived in Rellandia at the time. Her parents abandoned her deep in the mountainous wilderness. They were fearful of the townsfolk who were already suspicious of her strange happenings. She was raised by foxes and using her charm and beauty, she survived by tricking the travelers of their possessions as well as hiding from predators such as the mountain yeti. She came back to village settlement in the mountains and was respected. Warlocks were now perceived as a powerful and highly respectable race by Rellandians because of her. The motto “Callidus” means cunning. House of Ariémvo - Ariémvo was a poor labourer trying to settle in the Rellandian Mountains. One day he lost his wife due to her unexpected pregnancy. The settlement where they were did not have any doctors or any medicine for her. Since the nearest town to the kingdom was 15 km but due the mountain they had to go around nearly quadrupled the size of distance they needed to travel. The wife almost made it alive but they just arrive a little too late. To ensure that the Rellandian settlers does not experience the same experience he did, he stood up and protested to have a path be carved through the small Mountain. The Rellandian settlers and people from the nearby kingdom heard his cry and after 2 years of work they carved the path using iron hammers, and pick axes. He reduced the route between soon to be city of Rellandia to the nearest block town outside from 58 km to 18 km. The motto is “Fortis” which translates to Strong. Culture The people of Rellandia could be seen divided into four sections of the mountain due to hierarchy. At the foot of the mountain are the ram farmers and traders. In the next section of the mountain are the hunters and trackers of the yetis and craftsmen and all the middle class men. Next are at the fortress, the Knights of Rell, who protect the people of Rellandia. Lastly the scholars, druidss and heads of Rellandia . The Rellandians are known by one of the four factions with each faction tied with an area on the mountain: * The Stare and Parliament : The Perch (OU and Fort of Rell). * The Knights of Rell : Fort of Rell * The Hunt : The Den ( a guild hall and tavern for Yeti hunters). * The Herd / Herders : Black Sheep Trading Centre. Each of the faction have mutual respect for one another. They help each other and work together as a pact in order to live harmoniously. The people of The Perch are treated as overseer's over the other two factions - given that they are the most respected of all the factions. Trade Due to Rellandia's location, there has been several attempts trying to bridge a gap between Meridhan and the mainland of Vviventia. The mainland of Vviventia want to seek trade with the Meridhan and found potential making a bridge between the two land masses. Due to Meridhan's expanding resources of goods due to crystals a hope on tying trade has been rejuvenated and more money and resources maybe placed in making the bridge again or by other means. (e.g. the newly developed flying zepplins from Sandfall).